East Harlem Artists Trail

Meet Tanya Torres

1706 Lexington AvenueNew York,NY 10029tanyaetorres@yahoo.comTel 646-267-9681www.tanyatorres.comCall or email for an appointment to visit the artist's studio.

Tanya Torres is a Puerto Rican artist and writer living and working in New York City. After completing a B.A. in Art Education at the City College of New York, she was offered a scholarship to complete her M.F.A. at the same institution. Her artwork has been presented at the United Nations Organization, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library, the Museum of the 19th Century Dominican Family in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), the Porta Coeli Museum of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture), and the Prague Congress Centre in the Czech Republic, among other cultural institutions. She has published the handmade poetry books Caguana (1994), Laberinto (1995), Bestiario mío (2001), I Can Certainly Survive (2002), Cuerpo de batalla/Battle Body(2004), and Sagrario (Shrine) (2007). In 2010, she published a handmade, handwritten edition of the book Canción de la Magdalena with a song by Raquel Z. Rivera. In 2007, she published Cuerpo de paz: Repercusiones de la batalla (Peace Body: The Aftermath of the Battle) about life after cancer. Most recently, she published an edition of 50 miniature books of Destellos de Sofía,a book of mystical poetry completed in August 2011, and a pendant miniature book edition with the English translation, Sophia's Lightin 2014.

In 2002, El Diario/La Prensa selected her as one of the 50 Women of the Year. In 2003, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (NY) invited her to be part of the project “Puerto Rican Writers: History and Context”, which provides a space in the general archive to preserve and share her documents.

Tanya's ongoing art project Song of the Magdalene, with author and musician Raquel Z. Rivera, celebrates Mary Magdalene, the biblical character and all other expressions of this symbol of feminine divinity, through research and creative actions since 2005. It was presented at St. Mark’s Church in the Lower East Side of New York in 2010, and has traveled across the United States and Puerto Rico. Tanya currently works from her studio in East Harlem, where she lives, and travels with her art wherever she is invited. Her work celebrates life and nature. View more of her art at www.tanyatorres.com